Definitely Maybe
by extremeArtist
Summary: Kate is an up-and-coming Pokémon Ranger with lots of potential. However, the Almia region is being plunged into darkness, and it's up to Kate to save it. She just never expected love to get in the way. But she DEFINITELY won't let it interfere with her duty. Maybe.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"OK, class. Time to take your seats." The students scrambled into their seats and looked up at their teacher. Ms. April walked up the to the front of the room. She brushed some of her long hair aside and looked at the students.  
"As you know, we are to have a new student from Fiore joining our class today," she said.  
Immediately, chatter arose from the class.  
"Is it a guy? Or a girl?"  
"Are they cool? Or cute? Or like a celebrity?"  
"Aren't we supposed to know these things? Seems kinda like it was sprung up on us-"  
Ms. April silenced them with a raise of her hand.  
"OK, that's enough. Keith? What's with the grin?" she asked a red-haired student. Keith quickly sat up in his chair.  
"Nothing. Ms. April," he said.  
"Good. Now then. Come on in!" she called to the door.  
There was a moment of silence. Then the door slid open, and the new student walked in. It was a girl. She wore the standard Ranger School uniform for girls. Her hair was up in two short, spiky pigtails. She wore a cool, collected expression as she walked up the aisle. She turned and faced the class.  
"Tell the class a little about yourself," Ms. April encouraged.  
Kate calmly scanned the classroom.  
"Well, I'm Kate. I'm sixteen and my birthday is January 1st. Don't ask me what my favorite Pokémon is, because I can't choose. I've wanted to be a Ranger ever since I saw one put out a fire near my home."  
"Very interesting," said Ms. April. She turned to the class. "I hear that Kate got a very good mark on her entrance exam. Now, you can have a seat next to Keith."  
Kate walked over and plopped herself into the chair. She felt a gaze burning into her. She turned and fixed her sharp blue eyes on Keith. He was staring at her. Someone could've written "processing data" on his forehead and it wouldn't have been any more obvious. The other students started giggling.  
"Keith's got it bad!" a girl with blonde hair whispered.  
Kate glared at Keith, who was still staring at her.  
"Do you have an issue or something?" she asked him.  
Keith seemed to snap out of it. "Me? No." He resumed his staring. Annoyed, Kate nudged him with her foot. Keith jumped.  
"Ow!" he said loudly. Ms. April turned around.  
"What is it Keith?" she asked sternly. Keith looked at her.  
"Um, nothing Ms. April. Just a cramp," he said.  
Ms. April turned back around. Keith whirled and faced Kate, who was sitting calmly in her seat as if nothing happened. "What the crap was that for?!" he whispered furiously. She turned her gaze at him.  
"You were staring at me. It was distracting. If you don't want to be nudged, then don't stare."  
"It wasn't a nudge! You nailed me in the shin!" Keith hissed. Kate ignored him.  
"OK! Today is a free-study period. Just make sure you're back in here by the bell," Ms. April announced. He turned to the blonde-haired girl.  
"Rhythmi, you can show Kate around," she said. Rhythmi nodded.  
"I'll be in the Staff Room if you need me." Then, Ms. April left the room.  
The class crowed around Kate. Rhythmi walked up to Kate, her hair bouncing.  
"So, what DID you get on your entrance exam?" she asked.  
"I got-" Kate was cut off by Keith, who had walked up behind her.  
"Are we talking about her entrance exam? I passed it in a minute and a half. How long did it take you to capture that Pikachu? An hour?" he jeered. Kate gave him a are-you-serious look.  
"Ten seconds," she said. Everyone gasped in amazement. Keith looked aghast.  
"You're lying, you!" he sputtered.  
"Says the guy who can't even remember my one syllable name," Kate sniffed. She sauntered out of the room, with Rhythmi at her heels. Keith stared after her, along with half the class.  
"Whoa, Keith. You just got BUILT," a boy whispered.

Outside, Kate was amazed at the spaciousness of the School. She wasted no time making a beeline to the library. Inside were tons of books on Rangers.  
"Oh!" Rhythmi pointed to a boy in the back. His hair was cut like a mushroom.  
"That's Isaac. He is a stone-cold genius. He spends most of his time here reading."  
Kate swiveled around and strode out of the library. After seeing just about every other room in existence, she headed outside.  
"Hey! You should go and learn how to do a-"  
"Target Clear?" Kate interrupted Rhythmi. She pointed her School Styler towards a wooden crate lying about five feet away. A Bidoof she had captured earlier charged into it and smashed it into tiny pieces, before scampering off.  
Rhythmi looked thoroughly impressed. Suddenly, without warning, a voice rang out.  
"Oh dear! Oh dear oh dear!"  
"That's Janice!" Rhythmi said in alarm. She and Kate dashed over to the caretaker.  
"What happened?" Rhythmi demanded.  
"All the Bidoof are running around like crazy!" Janice said. "Help calm them down, please!"  
"On it!" Kate declared.  
"Hey what's this all about? Escaped Bidoof?" a voice rang out. Kate and Rhythmi turned to see Keith hurrying up to them. He then turned to Kate.  
"Hey, what's-your-name. How about we have a race to see who can catch the most Bidoof?"  
"Keith! Can't you make an effort to at least remember our new classmate's name?" Rhythmi said furiously.  
"Butt out, Rhythmi. So how abo-" Keith cut off. Kate had jumped onto his shoulders and used them as a launching pad. She pushed herself into the air and aimed her Capture Disc at four Bidoof. With a sweep of her Styler, she captured all of them. Kate then turned a somersault and landed on the ground. Keith and Rhythmi gaped. Kate looked directly at Keith.  
"I personally don't have time to play such a dumb game, as these Bidoof are on the loose, but I am not one to turn down a challenge!"  
For a few seconds, she and Keith held gazes while Rhythmi looked on. The tension was broken by a two Bidoof running past. Kate and Keith looked at each other quickly, then took off sprinting in different directions, chasing the remaining Bidoof.

Kate and keith eventually caught the four remaining Bidoof and brought them to Janice. Kate had capture six Bidoof. Keith had captured two.  
"Looks like I won," Kate said evenly. Keith didn't meet her eye. Kate wondered, _Did I offend him?_  
Keith suddenly looked up. "Looks like I have a rival!" he declared. Kate was taken aback, but she didn't show it. She smiled to herself. A rival? Maybe this could work…  
The school bell clanged.  
"Oh nuts! We better hurry or we'll be late to class!" Rhythmi called. Kate turned towards her new friend and headed into the building. She had a feeling she was going to like it here.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Hey Kate. Let's sneak out," Kate heard Rhythmi whisper to her.

"Why?"

"It's time for your initiation!" Rhythmi replied. Kate looked at her blankly.

"My initi…whatever. Let's go," she said.

Outside, Kate's entire class was waiting for them. Rhythmi faced them.

"OK, everybody! Time for our initiation to welcome Kate!" She turned to Kate.

"All you need to do is retrieve four Stylers we've hidden throughout the school!"

Kate looked at her evenly. "Challenge accepted!"

"Oh yeah, Keith's coming with you," Rhythmi said. Kate groaned. So did Keith, only less so.

"Let's go, Keith. And don't hold me up," Kate said, and she descended down the stairs.

Downstairs, moonlight cut through the skylights in the ceiling. A moonbeam illuminated Kate's

face. "Let's try our classroom first," she said. Keith only nodded.

Inside, there were several crates.

_Why are there suddenly crates in the classroom?_ Kate wondered.

"I'll give you a hint to where the Styler is. It's located in something that wasn't here this morning."

Kate stared at him. "What kind of a hint is that?! NONE of these crates were here this morning!"

she said hotly. She directed a Bidoof to smash a crate. Inside the crate was another Bidoof.

"YOU HID POKÉMON INSIDE THE CRATES!? THAT'S JUST ABUSIVE!" Kate shouted.

"Yelling won't help you get the Styler any faster," Keith teased.

Kate lost it. She threw out her leg and smashed a crate next to her. The crate exploded in a s

hower of splintered wood. Keith backed up a little as Kate picked up the Styler. She turned it on,

spun around once and held it in the air like a torch, while standing on one foot. She winked. She

turned and caught Keith staring. She walked up to him and grabbed the front of his shirt.

"WHAT did I tell you about staring?" she said warningly.

"U-Uum…not to do it?" Keith stammered. Kate let go of his shirt.

"It seems you _do_ have some brains inside that head of yours," Kate said teasingly.

She ran out of the room, and into the staff room.

"OK, the Styler we hid here doesn't stay still. You understand that ri-" Keith stopped.

Kate was already chasing after the Pichu. It clutched the Styler in its little hands as it ran in a

panicked circle around the collections of teacher's desks. The Pichu may have been fast, but Kate

was faster. She cleverly cut a corner, and the Pichu ran right into her. She released the Capture

Disk, and drew loops around the Pichu at blinding speed. Calmed down, the Pichu handed her the

Styler. Kate did her Ranger Pose again, and Keith resisted the urge to stare.

"Let's head to the library!" Kate said enthusiastically. She grabbed Keith's hand and led him into

the vast room. She eyed a Styler on a desk near the end of the room. Two crates were blocking

their way. To Keith's surprise, Kate jumped over them and landed without making much of a sound.

"How…did you do that?" he inquired. Kate shrugged.

"Survival class. It was a required course in Fiore. She ran over and grabbed the Styler.

"Only one place left. Mr. Kincaid's room," Kate said.

Inside the room, the Styler was just lying there. Kate dashed over and grabbed it.

"OK. That's all of them. Now let's hurry and put them in the basement. I wanna get out of here,"

Keith said, looking around the dark room.

"What's wrong? Are you scared?" Kate said, grinning.

"Are you?" Keith asked.

"What? No way!" Kate said. "Now let's go into the dark, scary basement. Full of cobwebs and

books. So SCARY."

The pair descended down the stairs into the basement.

"What the? There shouldn't be fences down here!" Keith said in confusion.

"Looks like we need to cut it down. Zubat can cut the fence, right?" Kate said thoughtfully.

Keith looked around and spotted a Zubat flitting around near the top of the ceiling. He pointed it

out to Kate. She was about to deploy her Capture Disk, when suddenly the Zubat swooped down on her.

"Look out!" Keith yelled. Kate ducked, but Keith wasn't so fast. The Zubat sank its fangs into Keith's shoulder. He cried out in pain.

"Keith!" Kate shouted. She swung her Styler around. The Zubat calmed down, and let go of Keith.

He sank to the floor, holding his shoulder. Kate ran to him.

"Oh my God, are you OK?!" she asked frantically.

"Y-Yes…" Keith muttered.

"Let's dump the Stylers at the door and get out of here. I have a first-aid kit in my room," Kate said.

She walked over to the door, Keith trailing a little.

"Ssssshh. Do you hear that?" he suddenly whispered.

Without warning four Gastly appeared in front of the door. Keith leapt into Kate's arms.

"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"What the-! Keith! What the crap are you doing?!" she dumped him on the ground. He scooted

behind her as fast as he could, screaming. Kate looped her Styler around the four Gastly. Kat

gritted her teeth. One Gastly had disappeared. Out of the corner of her eye, she was it reappear

behind her. It flicked its long tongue.

"Oh God!" she shouted. The Gastly's tongue licked Keith.

Kate drew loops around it as fast as she could. The remaining Gastly disappeared.

Keith was shaking. Kate was about to go over to him when the door behind her slammed open.

"WHAT'S GOING ON OUT HERE?!" It was Mr. Kincaid.

"Aw, shoot! Run, Kate!" Keith yelled. Kate threw the Stylers at the door and bolted.

Kate soon gained a lot more ground than Keith. She stopped and turned to him.

"Keith! Come on!" she beckoned to him.

Keith wobbled then fell to his knees, shaking. Kate rolled her eyes.

"My God. It was just a Zubat bite," she said as she threw Keith's arm around her shoulder. She

helped up the stairs, back to the dorm rooms.

"Hey. We were wondering if you gonna be down there all ni-" Rhythmi cut off her greeting as she

saw Kate trudge up the stairs, supporting Keith.

"Oh my God!" Rhythmi said. "What happened?!"

"A Zubat happened. It bit Keith," Kate said. She set Keith down. Or more, she dumped him on the

floor. He was shaking more violently, now. Kate explained what happened to everyone.

"But he was only bitten. Why is he shaking so much?" Rhythmi said in a worried tone.

Kate was silent. Maybe…

"The Gastly! Gastly are made up of poisonous gases. Keith must've inhaled some!"

Rhythmi ran around. "POISON?! We don't have any antidotes!" she said in a panic.

"_I_ do," Kate said. She ran into the girl's dorm. She threw aside her belongings and grabbed her

first-aid kit. She ran back outside and over to Keith. She grabbed a vial. She looked at Rhythmi,

who was still running around Keith.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO MY WHOLE BRAIN IS CRYING!" she yelled.

"RHYTHMI! Calm down, and go get a bucket!"

"WAAAAA-a bucket? Oh God, he isn't gonna-"

"Just get it, Rhythmi. Everything will be fine," Kate said calmly.

Kate popped off the cork of the small vial and held it under Keith's nose.

"Inhale it," she ordered.

Keith obeyed her. His face screwed up, and a few moments later, he grabbed the bucket Rhythmi

had grabbed and thrust his head into it, hacking.

Rhythmi cringed. "Agh. He's throwing up…" she moaned.

Kate rubbed Keith's back.

"Perfect. Good job, Keith" she said. She turned to her horrified and VERY grossed out-looking classmates.

"He didn't vomit," Kate explained. "The vial contained a special vapor. It was an antidote in gas

form. It turned the poison inside Keith into liquid form, and Keith _coughed_ it up."

"Ooooh…" everyone said.

Kate stood up and clapped her hands together once.

"Well, I think we've had enough excitement of done day! Let's all get some rest."


End file.
